Leslie Jones Opens Up About Twitter Abuse

After a ghoulish week, our favorite Ghostbuster is back — and finally opening up about the Internet slime she’s received.

On Thursday, Leslie Jones sat down with Seth Meyers on Late Night, during which she discussed the deluge of racist and sexist vitriol she faced in the wake of the Ghostbusters reboot’s release.

“What’s scary about the whole thing is the insults didn’t hurt me,” Jones told Meyers. “Unfortunately, I’m used to insults, but what scared me was the injustice of a gang of people jumping against you for such a sick cause… it’s so gross and mean and unnecessary.”

Jones was harassed on Facebook and Twitter, and shared that Twitter, her preferred platform, was slower to address the issue. “It’s like, that’s my favorite restaurant. I love the food there. Three people just got shot in front of me. Y’all need to get some security,” Jones said, using an analogy to describe Twitter’s oft-criticized trolling problem.

Fortunately, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey eventually reached out to the comedian to identify and ban some of the accounts behind the abusive campaign, including Breitbart technology editor Milo Yiannopoulos.

Jones also told Meyers that she did not leave Twitter, but simply signed out in order to disengage and practice self-care.

@Lesdoggg has since returned to the service and has been met with an outpouring of support under the banner, #LoveForLeslieJ, which began trending shortly after Jones shared the abuse she was receiving. Meyers’ team put together a faith-restoring video reel of fan submissions.